Why buy new clothes?

[lapislzi]

18. I learned a few things about clothes from my mom

She was always impeccably dressed. She impressed upon me the need to own a few pieces of high-quality clothing that would last for many years and be update-able style-wise.

When I graduated from college, one of my gifts was a suit (I'm a girl; it was a tailored skirt and jacket). It wasn't new, but it was in great shape, having been made by union workers in the US. I wore it to interviews and for years afterwards, swapping it around with other pieces, or mixing trousers in.

My grandmother augmented my wardrobe of "classics" with a camel hair coat and a trench coat. Some pearls and a box of costume jewelry from another auntie.

I have long since discarded the suit (I donated it to the Goodwill) because I'm rarely required to dress up, and my expanding waistline has a mind of its own. But if I didn't have that wardrobe foundation during those lean years, it would have taken a lot longer to pay off those student loans.

Alas, my daughter has no sense of this. I see $50 t-shirts shredding after a single turn in the washing machine. Then she goes out to buy more, and how about another handbag while she's out there? Clothing is just another consumable, like food.